Hebrews
2:10-18
Preliminary Arguments, 2:10-6:20
1. Jesus' humanity saves, 2:10-3:6
i] Jesus, the Son who saves and sanctifies
ArgumentHaving established his proposition / thesis, v9, the Rhetor goes on to reflect "upon the appropriateness of the incarnation and the death of the Son of God. The pre-existent Son entered the human race and assumed its conditions, especially its liability to death, in order to redeem humankind", Lane.
Issues
i] Context: See 1:1-4. We now come to the Rhetor's preliminary arguments. As an example of first century rhetoric, the address / sermon falls into five main parts:
The introduction, exordium, 1:1-2:4;
Proposition / thesis, partitio, 2:5-9;
Preliminary arguments, narratio 2:10-6:20;
The arguments proper, probatio, 7:1-12:27;
Conclusion / Summary / recapitulation, peroratio, 12:28-13:21.
A moment spent examining the different commentators on Hebrews shows the lack of agreement on structure. A favoured approach is to take 3:1-5:10 as the second major section of the sermon, a section focused on the priesthood of Christ, so, Lane (The High Priestly Character of the Son), Attridge (Christ Faithful and Merciful), Ellingworth (The Faithful and Merciful High Priest), .... Bruce takes 3:1-4:13 as the second section, "The True Home of the People of God." Kistemaker, Hughes, ... opt for the Christ is superior line, eg., Kistemaker, "Jesus' Superiority to Moses", 3:1-2:13.
Koester argues that having stated his proposition, 2:5-9. the Rhetor sets out to establish it in three major arguments. The first, Christ is a faithful and merciful high priest, 2:10-5:10. Koester argues that this "explores the meaning of Christ's suffering". This is followed by a digression which transitions to the second major argument in the sermon, 7:1-10:25, Christ's high priestly sacrifice enables us to approach God. Then follows our own pilgrimage to the promised land, "persevering through suffering to glory by faith", 11:1-12:27.
There is general agreement that the argument proper of Hebrews comes in 7:1-12:29, the atonement offered by Christ's high priestly sacrifice and its appropriation by faith, yet there is no agreement about the preceding chapters. Opting for Koester's suggestion that the proposition / thesis of Hebrews is found in 2:9, we are left with a slab of material (a Narratio) that seemingly defies analysis. Unlike the two arguments 7:1-12:29, these chapters do not present as a single argument, but as a series of minor expositions with associated exhortations. Koester describes them as links in a chain which together make up Hebrews' first main argument, but they present more like a series of related preparatory issues that a speaker might address before moving to their main topic. Each is a development on the preceding argument, but they do not together present as a single argument.
What we seem to have is three talking points / mini sermons, developed around scriptural texts, which address theological issues evidently troubling the audience, 2:10-3:6; 3:7-4:13; 4:14-5:10. The talking points are primarily paraenetic in form (exhortatory, admonitory) and constantly reference the theological solution to the underlying problems, namely a firm faith in the faithfulness of Christ, his atoning sacrifice, 7:1-12:29. The fourth talking point is likely transitional, serving to encourage the audience to put their thinking caps on for the main game, 5:11-6:20.
The first argument, 2:10-3:6. Fix your minds on Jesus, our Pathfinder to glory. It is easy to think that Jesus' humanity makes him inferior in the heavenly pantheon, yet for Jesus to suffer death uJper pantoV, "for all", it was necessary for him to become incarnate, one flesh with humanity, 2:14. It is on this basis that he atones for our sins, enabling us to share his holiness, and with him, as one worthy of greater honour than Moses, lead us to glory. Yet remember, we remain members of his house only as long as we hold firmly to the hope in which we boast, 3:6.
The second argument, 3:7-4:13. Appropriating holiness and glory depends on the perseverance in faith. It is easy for believers to drift from their original conviction and align with the disobedience of Israel in the wilderness and so fail to enter God's promised Sabbath-rest. The danger lies in a kardia ponhra asistiaV, "wicked unbelieving heart". Only those who hold firmly to God's promises will enter into his rest, 4:3, so let us encourage each other so that we can enter that rest, 4:11.
The third argument, 4:14-5:10. Happily, when we do fall into sin, we have Jesus our Great High Priest to intercede for us. Jesus made the journey to God's Sabbath-rest through his suffering and he is well able to aid us when sin blights our way, 4:14-16. His priesthood is far superior to that of the order of Aaron, for Christ is of the order of Melchizedek, an order that supersedes that of the Aaronic priesthood, and is eternal, 5:1-6. Christ's perfection assures us that we rest on someone who can eternally save us, 5:7-10. So, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess, 4:14.
Transitional argument 5:11-6:20. Although Jesus' ministry as Pathfinder and Priest assures us of our salvation, sanctification and glorification, apathy can blight everything he does for us. Spiritual immaturity is soul destroying, so rather than become distracted, wrestle with the mind of Christ, because it is through persevering in faith that we inherit God's promised blessings. And be assured, our Lord stands beside us in our struggles, and will keep all his promises.
ii] Background: A general introduction; See 1:1-4.
Sanctification: Frank Spencer's catch-phrase in the comedy series Some Mothers Do 'Ave Em, "Every day in every way I'm getting better and better", was anything but the truth. This is how we often understand sanctification, and like Frank, it's anything but the truth.
The standard definition of sanctification is "the progressive realisation of what we are in Christ". This definition serves to describe the process of walking by the Spirit. The problem with the definition is that, as we all know, our Christian lives progress in fits and starts; two steps forward and one step back - and sometimes the step back is a big one. A better definition may be "sanctification is a state of holiness, which, in the renewing power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, we seek to realise in our daily life, albeit imperfectly". The apostle Paul would probably be happier with this definition, although in the end, justification for Paul includes sanctification. A person justified by grace through faith is a person who stands perfect, holy, before God - sanctified. Nothing can be added to a person's standing before God because they possess the perfection of Christ. And because they possess the perfection of Christ, they find themselves driven to be the person they are in Christ - faith in the faithfulness of Christ makes us faithful.
When we come to Hebrews, we note that the Rhetor has Jesus, rather than the Spirit, sanctifying God's people, 2:11; they are sanctified through Jesus' sacrificial offering of himself, of his spilled blood of the covenant, 10:14, 29. What seems clear is that just as Paul includes sanctification with justification, the Rhetor includes justification with sanctification; he is using the word to cover the totality of salvation, from regeneration to glorification.
iii] Structure: Jesus, the Son who saves and sanctifies:
Thesis development, v10-11;
Christ incarnate, v12-18:
The suffering Christ is our brother, v12-13;
As a man, Christ has liberated us from the fear of death, v14-16;
As a man, Christ atones and assists, v17-18.
The first of the preliminary arguments opens with an expanded restatement of the thesis, v10-11, Scriptural texts, v12-13, commentary, v14-18, and paraenesis, both exhortation, 3:1 and warning 3:6.
iv] Interpretation:
The book of Hebrews addresses believers who are drifting from their original conviction to the Christian faith. In their estimation, Jesus is coming up short and they need to add a + to the CROSS. This possibly involves a drift back to Judaism, to the theology, Law and ritual of the local synagogue. Atonement for sin in the Christian life seems to be the core issue, and the atoning power of ceremonial rites and angelic mediation are the likely aids to deal with the problem. It may seem that Jesus comes up short in comparison to angelic powers, and this because of his humanity, and so he is in need of spiritual support for the sanctification of God's people.
The Rhetor's argument is fully Pauline, although it is unlike Paul in its presentation. The base problem is ongoing sin in the Christian life seemingly undermining a person's standing before God, so calling into question their salvation, sanctification and ultimate glorification. The flawed answer to the problem for Paul's heretics (the members of the circumcision party) was attention to the Mosaic Law; for the Rhetor's heretics, the flawed answer is not as easily identified, but it is probably the guiding and atoning ministry of Judaism as a whole. Both Paul, and the Rhetor, see the answer in the faithfulness of Christ, his completed work on the cross. Nothing a believer does, or fails to do, other than abandon Christ, can take away their salvation, sanctification and ultimate glorification. A CROSS + methodology, to deal with ever-present sinfulness, actually undermines a person's faith, even to the point of finding it difficult "to be brought back to repentance". Only in a reliance on our "merciful and faithful high priest", his high-priestly sacrifice for us, is our salvation, sanctification and glorification assured.
The simple fact is that Jesus lives forever and his high-priestly office is eternal, so he is able to completely save. As our man before the throne of God's grace, he is able to intercede on our behalf, for sins, past, present and future, 7:24-25. So, there is nothing we can add to the CROSS.
Whatever the specific + confronting the Rhetor, at this point in his address he tackles the issue of Jesus' humanity. Jesus' humanity doesn't lessen his standing in the heavenly pantheon, it is actually a necessary quality enabling the salvation of God's children. Jesus' death as a human involved him standing in for all of us, and doing so rightly (perfectly). Jesus, on our behalf, became a brother, and faced the divine curse of death. No angelic being is able to do this, only the incarnate Christ.
The Rhetor first develops the sermon's thesis, v10-11, outlined in v9, reminding his audience that the sanctifying of a people for glory, is achieved through the sacrificial death (suffering) of Christ. In v11 he underlines the thesis statement in v9, "stand for all of us", NEB, ie., the one who sanctifies us, and those who are sanctified, are of the same family, the one stock. In the following verses, the issue of Jesus' humanity is developed. First, with supporting texts, the Rhetor confirms that the suffering Christ is our brother and as a member of his family we share his glory, v12-13; Second, by sharing our humanity and taking upon himself the punishment due our sins, Jesus has broken the power of sin and death (the devil's hold), so setting a believer free from the slavery of sin in the Christian life, v14-16; Third, Christ's humanity was a necessary attribute for the high-priestly sacrifice of himself to make an effective atonement for the sins of God's people, and such enables him to aid us in our struggle against sin, v17-18.
Text - 2:10
Jesus, the man who sanctifies and atones, v10-18; The Argument: God's ultimate purpose for his creation is to gather a people to himself in order that they may share in the Creator's glory. To achieve this end, it was "fitting" (a right thing for him to do) for God to set Jesus to this task through suffering, and for him to do that rightly (perfectly). Jesus was the "author" of this salvation in the sense of being its pathfinder / pioneer / leader. Jesus cuts out the pathway for us to travel by identifying with sinful humanity (of the same stock, human), and remaining obedient / faithful to God unto death. So, Jesus serves as our high priest, the one who saves, makes holy, and leads us to glory.
i] Development of the thesis, v10-11. "The conjunction For (gar) indicates that our author is now explaining more fully what he has just said concerning the purpose of the incarnation of the Son, namely, that "by the grace of God he might taste death for every one", Hughes.
This sentence is complex due to the presence of two modifying constructions and an infinitival construction serving as the subject of the impersonal verb "it is fitting". Although the sentence is somewhat confusing in English, in Greek it carries rhetorical force.
"God, *, **, to perfect the pathfinder of salvation of them through suffering was right"
* because of whom are all things
and through whom are all things
** having led many sons to glory."
gar "-" - for. A marker of logical development, explanatory, serving to develop the proposition, v9. Probably best left untranslated, as NIV.
agagonta (agw) aor. part. "in bringing" - God having brought, led [many sons]. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting / modifying the assumed subject "God", the accusative subject of the infinitive "to perfect".
eiV + acc. "to" - into [glory]. Here expressing the direction of the action, goal, but possibly arrival at.
eprepen (erepw) imperf. "it was fitting" - was right. It is usually understood that what God did was "appropriate", but it was actually necessary, he was bound to do it this way if he was to save a people to himself - it was necessary for a perfect man to suffer as a substitute for sinful humanity; "God did the right thing when he made Jesus perfect by suffering", CEV; "God did what he needed to do", NCV.
autw/ dat. pro. "-" - to him. Dative of interest, advantage; "it was right for him."
dia + acc. ... dia + gen. "for [whom and] through [whom]" - because of, on account of [whom all things are = exist and] through, by means of [whom all things are = exist]. The double pronged use of this preposition serves to state two truths: first, expressing the cause / reason for the existence of creation, namely the sovereign act of God, so NIV "for", and second, the means / agency of its creation, possibly "by", in the sense of "means by which", namely a divine act of God. "Who created all things for his own purpose(s)", TNT.
ton archgon (oV) "the author" - founder. Object of the infinitive "to perfect"; "forerunner", "leader", NLT; "Pioneer", NRSV; "Pathfinder", Bruce.
teleiwsai (teleiow) aor. inf. "should make ...... perfect" - to complete, perfect, qualify [the founder]. Serving to form a nominal phrase subject of the impersonal verb "it was fitting". The accusative subject of the infinitive is the assumed noun "God". "Christ was made fully adequate for his eternal reign, and this (dia + gen.) through / by means of suffering"; "crown with suffering", Knox.
swthriaV (a) gen. "[their] salvation" - of the salvation [of them]. The genitive is adjectival, verbal, objective, "for their salvation", or descriptive, idiomatic "who achieved their salvation"; "the author of their salvation", Cassirer.
"through" - through, by means of [sufferings]. Instrumental, expressing means; "through the fact that he suffered", Phillips.
v11
"The reason why Christ is able to save his people is that he is one of them; he and they are one", Grindheim.
In reworking his thesis from v9, the Rhetor now refines the statement that "he (Jesus) should stand for all of us", NEB. It was eprepen, "right (necessarily so)", that God should save, sanctify and glorify a people to himself through Jesus' incarnate life, a life ending in substitutionary sacrifice. It was right in that both Jesus, and those he sanctifies, must necessarily share a common humanity.
te gar "-" - for. The conjunction gar here is epexegetic, "deepening the argument of v10", Ellingworth. The presence of te indicates close association with v10. Best as NIV.
oJ ... aJgiazwn (aJagiazw) pres. part. "the one who makes men holy" - the one who sanctifies [and the ones being sanctified]. As with the passive participle "those who are made holy", the participle here serves as a substantive, subject of an assumed verb to-be. "Sanctify", in the sense of set apart for divine use and thus make holy. Hebrews views humanity as defiled by sin and in need of cleansing / purification, which cleansing is achieved by the sacrificial blood of Christ, thus enabling the person to stand holy and acceptable before God.
ex (ek) + gen. "are of" - [are all] out of, from. Expressing source / origin, although possibly serving as a partitive genitive, as NIV.
enoV (eiJV, enoV) gen. "the same family" - one. Either: "have the same Father (God)", TEV, or the same origin in Adam (possibly Abraham) / one humanity, "are all one stock", NEB. Many commentators go with "one Father", God is the one source for both Jesus and believers. Yet, given that the following argument establishes the worth of Jesus' humanity, we are best to follow Ellingworth etc., and opt for "one humanity"; "Jesus is a true member of the human race", Morris.
di (dia) "so" - because of, on account of [which]. Here causal, introducing a causal clause explaining why Jesus is not ashamed to call believers brother, namely, it is because of h}, "which" = "this", ie., the sanctified and the sanctifier are ex eJnoV, "from one" = "from one stock" = "human"; "That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers", ESV.
kalein (kalew) pres. inf. "to call" - [he is not ashamed] to call. The infinitive is best classified as complementary, completing the verb "to be ashamed".
adelqouV (oV) acc. "brothers and sisters" - [them] brothers. Accusative complement of the direct object "them", standing in a double accusative construction and asserting a fact about the object.
v12
ii] Christ incarnate - the necessary humanity of Jesus, v12-18: a) The suffering Christ is our brother - he shares our humanity and through him we share his glory, v11-13.
Three Old testament passages are quoted to support the contention that Christ is our brother. All three establish the solidarity of Christ with his disciples:
• Psalm 22:22. The early church treated Psalm 22 as a messianic Psalm fulfilled by Christ during his life. Jesus the messiah had praised God and put his trust in God. In typical Hebrew parallelism, God is praised in the presence of "my brothers" and the "congregation" ie., the assembly of believers, the church.
• Isaiah 8:17b. This rather obtuse reference links Christ and his brethren (the righteous remnant of Christ's day) with Isaiah and his disciples (the righteous remnant of Isaiah's day). Isaiah was rejected, his words ignored, just as Jesus was rejected and ignored. Yet, Isaiah, like Jesus (and the righteous remnant in Christ), continued to trust in the ultimate victory of the living God.
• Isaiah 8:18a. Isaiah and his children served as a sign to Israel of God's intentions for his people. This is particularly seen in his children's names which mean "remnant will return" and "hasten booty, speed spoil". For Christ, his remnant people, the church, his "children" ("those whom you gave me out of the world"), his brethren, are similarly a sign to the powers of this age.
Psalm 22:22 is the first of the three quotes from the Old Testament supporting the contention that believers are Christ's brothers.
legwn pres. part. "he says" - saying. We may classify the participle as attendant circumstance, expressing action accompanying the verb "to be ashamed", but its primary function is to introduce direct speech, here a quote; "He even said to God .....", CEV.
toiV adelfoiV (oV) dat. "to [my] brothers" - [i will tell the name of you] to the brothers [of me]. Dative of indirect object. "The name" alludes to the person of God; it sums up everything he is.
en + dat. "in" - in. Local, expressing space/sphere.
ekklhsiaV (a) gen. "of the congregation / the assembly" - [the middle] of the assembly [i will praise you]. The genitive is adjectival, partitive. "Assembly" is used of a local congregation, or the heavenly assembly of God's people, past, present and future; "when the believers gather for worship I will praise you", TH.
v13
The two quotations are probably from Isaiah 8:17, and 8:18, although there are many similar verses found in the Prophets. It is not overly clear how these quotes support the contention that Jesus is our brother. One possibility is that they identify the one quality a human can properly exercise towards God, namely trust / faith.
egw pro. "I" - [and again] i. Emphatic by position and use.
pepoiqwV (peiqw) perf. part "will put my trust" - [i will] having believed, trusted. The participle with the future verb to-be esomai, forms a periphrastic future construction, probably serving to emphasise aspect, ie., ongoing belief.
epi + dat. "on" - upon [him]. Spatial, expressing basis; "I will lean my weight upon God", TH.
moi dat. pro. "me" - [and again, behold, i i am and the children god gave which] to me. Dative of indirect object, the direct object being the accusative pronoun a{, "which", whose antecedent is "the children". The "children" are the remnant children of Israel, therefore "believers". Note the assumed verb which the NIV renders "Here I am".
v14
b) The suffering Christ has liberated us from the fear of death, v14-16. The pathway cut by Jesus had to be cut by a real person.
Jesus had to be born naturally, live naturally and die naturally; to heal the human condition he had to share our humanity. Through this role, Jesus himself took the sting of death and by his dying, drew the sting from his brothers. In so doing, he renders the powers of darkness powerless. Through his death, Jesus frees from slavery those who are in fear of death. Before Christ, the glory of eternity was but a forlorn hope; in the reality of Christ's incarnation, we find hope. Those whom Jesus "takes hold of" (helps) and leads along the pathway to glory, are not "angels", but the family of faith. They are the true sons of Abraham, Gal.3:7.
oun "-" - therefore. Inferential, drawing a logical conclusion.
epei "since" - because. Causal, forward looking; "because the children share flesh and blood, then (it was necessary that) he too shared their humanity."
kekoinwnhken (koinwnew) perf. part. "have" - having a share of, part of. The participle is probably a periphrastic perfect with the present tense of the verb to-be assumed, expressing durative aspect - ongoing consequences.
ai{matoV (a atoV) gen. "flesh [and blood]" - of flesh [and blood]. The genitives, "flesh and blood", are genitives of direct object after the verb "to share of" / partitive (or of material, Lenski); "since the children have a part of flesh and blood / share in (the material of) flesh and blood." "Since it was flesh and blood which these children shared", Cassirer, ie., their humanity.
paraplhsiwV adv. "[he] too" - [and he] likewise, in like manner. Comparative; "in exactly the same way", Barclay.
metescen (metecw) aor. "shared" - had a part in. Aorist may indicate an allusion to the incarnation, "he himself participated in their nature", Moffatt - Jesus lives the same kind of life that we live, facing all that is involved in living in a world broken by sin.
twn autwn gen. pro. "in their humanity" - [shared of] the them = same things. Here the pronoun serves as an adjective. Genitive of direct object after the verb "to share of" / partitive; "he too shared ours (ie. our humanity)", NEB.
iJna + subj. "so that" - that. Introducing a final clause expressing purpose, "in order that", so NIV etc. One of the purposes of the incarnation is that through his perfect humanity and sacrifice for sin, Christ might render Satan powerless.
dia + gen. "by" - through, by means of [death]. Instrumental, expressing means. "His" is assumed, "through his death (sacrifice)."
ton .... econta (ecw) pres. part. "of him who holds" - [he might destroy] the one having [the power, might]. The participle serves as a substantive, object of the subjunctive verb "may destroy".
tou qanatou (oV) gen. "of death" - [the power] of death. The genitive is adjectival, descriptive, idiomatic / subordination; "power over death."
tout estin "that is" - " - that is [the devil]. Epexegetic; "That is to say, the devil", Zerwick.
v15
The destruction of the Devil's power gives freedom to God's people; here in the sense of freedom from slavery, not so much death itself, but the fear of death.
The context reveals that the slavery is the slavery of sin, the condemnation of which is death. Given the eternal effectiveness of Christ's atonement, Satan loses the power to operate freely in the sphere of a world of sin. Where the curse of sin is removed, Satan is left without leverage over a believer. Set free from the curse by Christ's high-priestly sacrifice, a believer is set free from the power of sin to control and condemn - we are set free to live for Christ rather than self.
apallaxh/ (apallassw) aor. subj. "free" - [and] he might set free, liberate [those ones]. Introducing the second element of the final clause commenced in v14, "in order that .... he might put the devil out of commission ..... and also in order that he might set the children (toutouV, "these", cf. v14) free ...."; "and might also set free", Phillips. "And in this way set free those ...", TEV.
oJsoi pro. "who" - as many as. The relative pronoun introduces a relative clause serving as an attributive modifier of the direct object toutouV, "those ones"; "these who ......"
fobw/ (oV) dat. "by their fear" - in fear [of death]. The NIV opts for an instrumental dative, placing it at the end of the verse and implying that it serves as the instrument of slavery. The dative is more likely local, sphere, "in the sphere of"; "delivered those who, in fear of death, were subject to lifelong slavery". The genitive qanatou, "of death", is adjectival, either epexegetic, limiting "fear" by specifying the fear in mind, "fear which consists of death", or verbal, objective.
dia tou pantoV zhn "all their lives" - through all the to live. A rather unique use of this preposition with the genitive articular infinitive, temporal, expressing contemporaneous time; "lifelong", Hughes. We would normally expect en tw/ + inf., so Harris. The interesting feature is that the genitive attributive adjective pantoV, "all", agrees with the articular infinitive, a syntactical rarity, cf., BDF#398. "Through the whole of their sinful living they were held in slavery."
douleiaV (a) gen. "[held] in slavery" - [were being a subject] of slavery. Genitive of direct object. When enocoV, "guilty, liable", is followed by a genitive, as here, it takes the sense "subject to", so "subject to slavery." As noted, translations often express the liberation in the terms of a liberation from the fear of death, but Hebrews aligns with the rest of the NT where slavery is used of slaves to the law, sin / guilt, ignorance /self and death / Hades.
v16
The Rhetor now draws a conclusion from v10-15 "by appealing to a self-evident truth: Jesus redeems not angels but the spiritual descendants of the father of believers, Abraham", Kistemaker. Possibly a truism (dhpou, "of course"), Attridge.
gar "for" - for. A marker of logical development, explanatory; see 1:5.
dhpou adv. "surely" - of course, certainly, surely [not]. Hapax legomenon. This adverb "assumes knowledge that the readers already have and that they are in agreement with the author's statement", Allen, so also Lane, Moffatt, ....; "It goes without saying / surely it doesn't need to be said".
epilambanetai (epilambanomai) pres. "he helps" - he takes hold of / he takes interest in, assists, helps, cares for [angels]. This verb, when expressing the sense "take hold of, catch, grasp", takes a genitive of direct object, although not always. So, more likely "takes hold of angels", rather than "helps" angels, so Koester, Bruce, .... The sense "takes to himself", NEB, was often understood to mean that Jesus takes to himself human nature rather than an angelic nature; "it is plain that for this purpose he did not become an angel; he became a man, in actual fact a descendent of Abraham", Phillips. The sense "helps", TEV, is more widely accepted today. Jesus did not "make himself the angel's champion", Knox; "he helps the offspring of Abraham", ESV. "Takes hold of" is likely the intended meaning, but with the sense of taking hold of the human condition of sinfulness and dealing with it, as of taking hold of Israel and leading them to the promised land, 8:9. The Rhetor is stating the obvious, Christ's atonement was for Abraham's children, the children of faith, not for angels.
alla "but" - but. Strong adversative standing in a counterpoint construction, "not ......, but ....."
Abraam gen. "Abraham's" - [he takes hold of the seed] of abraham. The genitive is adjectival, relational; the spiritual descendants of Abraham, who like Abraham, share his faith.
v17
c) Jesus' human nature enables him to serve as God's high priest on our behalf, atoning our sins and assisting us in the face of life's temptations, v17-18. These two verses are transitional, summarising v10-16, and preparing for the next point in the argument.
To take his brothers and sister along the pathway to salvation, perfection and glorification (to be our "pathfinder"), it was necessary for Jesus to be as his brothers, to be truly human, incarnate, in order to be a merciful and faithful high priest. As a fellow man, Jesus is a "faithful" high priest perfectly obedient, trustworthy, loyal, to God's word, and so he is able to turn aside the divine condemnation of sin on behalf of his brothers, ie., "make atonement for the sins of the people". As a fellow man, Jesus is also a "merciful" high priest. Having suffered as a man he learned obedience, and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who believe, 5:7-10. In short, the Rhetor makes the point that a high priest must be one with the people he represents before God. Jesus is such a high priest, and this enables him to assist his brothers as they face the human condition of sin. On our behalf, Jesus overcomes sin's curse, while assisting us in our constant struggle against the tests / temptations of life ("disloyalty to God", Bruce)
oJqen "for this reason" - therefore, for which reason, hence, this being so. Inferential conjunction; "therefore", AV.
oJmoiwqhnai (oJmoiow) aor. pas. inf. "to be made like" - to become like [the brothers in every respect was obligated = was necessary]. The infinitive forms a nominal phrase, subject of the impersonal use of the verb "it was obligated" = "it was necessary"; "to be made like his brothers in every way was necessary" = "therefore it was necessary that he become like ......"
kata panta "in every way" - according to all. Adverbial use of the preposition kata introducing an adverbial modifier of the infinitive "to be made like"; "in every respect."
iJna + subj. "in order that" - that [he might become a merciful and faithful high priest]. Introducing a final clause expressing purpose. "In order to be their merciful and faithful (to God) high priest", TEV. This is the first mention of Jesus as high priest, a descriptive role that is unique to Hebrews and one that will be fully developed later.
ta "[in service to God]" - the things [towards god]. The article serves as a nominalizer turning the prepositional phrase "towards God" into a substantive, "the things towards God", accusative of reference / respect, "with respect to the matters (the things) pertaining to (towards) God"; he is a "merciful and faithful high priest in all things divine", Moffatt.
eiV to + inf. "that" - into the [to remove, pardon = atone]. The preposition with the articular infinitive serves to introduce a final clause expressing purpose; Christ's priestly service is performed "so that" he might........" The meaning of the verb iJlaskomai is open to some debate. It can be taken to mean "to be merciful", and thus used here of "sins forgiven, wiped away, blotted out"; "so that the people's sin would be forgiven", TEV. The debate tends to focus on the verb meaning either, "expiation" (make amends for sin) or "propitiation" (turn aside the righteous judgment of God with respect to sin, ie., from the sinner to the sacrifice, namely from the sinner to Christ). Christ's high priestly service either serves to "expiate the sins of the people", NEB, or "make propitiation for the sins of the people", Bruce. Jesus' sacrifice probably does both, expiates and propitiates, ie., atones, as NIV.
tou laou (oV) gen. "of the people" - [the sins] of the people. The genitive is usually treated as verbal, subjective, "the sins committed by the people", although possibly adjectival, possessive, even possibly descriptive, source/origin; "so bring forgiveness to the people for their sins", Barclay.
v18
The Rhetor now identifies "the benefits conferred on humans made possible by the Son's full identification with humans", Moo.
It is not clear how Jesus assists us in our constant struggle through life's tests / trials / temptations. Allen, quoting Oden, identifies the aid, not only salvifically, but pastorally / psychologically; "He suffered the risks and vulnerabilities of human existence, and because of this we can identify with the God who identifies with us". Intercessory aid is another possibility - God keeps his promises, and now we can address God through one who stands with us, so Koester. Angelic assistance in the face of circumstance is possibly replaced by the assistance of the one who stands with us (unlikely). Possibly assistance in the face of testing / temptation by the one who himself was tested / tempted by the Devil all his life on earth - even on Gethsemane, "let this cup pass from me", ESV; We "can expect nothing short of perfect understanding from Jesus, because he himself suffered when he was tempted", Kistemaker.
Central to the Pauline doctrine of justification by grace through faith, is the proposition that the law makes us lawless, ie., law makes sin more sinful. Grace, on the other hand, makes us gracious, and this apart from the law. It is mercy itself that strengthens a believer in their constant struggle to live a godly life. So, it is likely that the Rhetor's point is that Jesus "is constantly active to deal with his people's sin", Ellingworth. When we trip and fall flat on our face, Jesus is there to lift us up, dust us off, and send us on our way again.
gar "-" - for. A marker of logical development, explanatory, in the sense of adding more information and so properly left untranslated, as NIV.
en w|/ "because" - in which. Possibly standing in for en tw/, serving as an adverb of time, although more likely causal here, "because". A circumstantial sense is possible, "given that / whereas", or simply local, sphere, "in that sphere wherein He suffered", Moffatt.
peponqen (pascw) perf. "he [himself] suffered" - he has suffered [he = himself]. The perfect tense serves to convey the thought of a past act with an ongoing effect. Note the emphatic use of the personal pronoun autoV, "he" = "he himself".
peirasqeiV (peirazw) perf. pas. part. "when he was tempted" - having been tested, tried, tempted. The participle is obviously adverbial. the NIV takes it to introduce a temporal clause, but there are other possibilities, eg. means (instrumental), "it is as he suffered by his temptations", Moffatt, even possibly attendant circumstance identifying action accompanying the verb "suffered", "he himself felt the pain of temptation and suffering", Weymouth. The sense of the word, either "test", or "tempt" is debated. Probably with the sense of put to the test by Satan, a test of faith, of loyalty to God, as in the wilderness temptation, and particularly the cross. When seemingly abandoned by God, would Jesus curse God? "For since he himself has passed through the test of suffering", NEB.
bohqhsai (bohqew) aor. inf. "to help" - [he is able] to help. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "he is able."
toiV peirazomenoiV (peirazw) pres. pas. part. "those who are being tempted" - the ones being tempted, tested, tried. The participle serves as a substantive, direct object of the infinitive "to help".
![[Pumpkin Cottage]](images/cottage1s.gif){kind=small}
lectionarystudies.com